Levels

• Programming languages reside at various levels, with machine language at the bottom level. High-level languages are usually easily readable by beginner or novice programmers, with well documented keywords and syntax. By comparison, low-level languages rely on the knowledge of thousands of specific microprocessor instructions.
  
  

Ease of Use

• High-level languages are based on common intermediate-level languages like C++, hence they are generally much more easily understood than lower-level languages. The critical mass of instructors and other knowledgeable high-level language users makes these far more easy to learn and understand. Assembly-level languages assume a much deeper technical understanding of programming.
  
  

Programming Power

• Assembly-level languages are much more powerful, as they are the closest possible way in programming to access the hardware without programming directly in binary (which, in usability terms for the vast majority of tasks, is impossible). Low-level languages are used to create hardware protocols, BIOS ROM code, and computer viruses. High-level languages are extremely versatile, but will always be slower because they need to be interpreted before execution.
  
  

Language Scope

• The low-level programming languages can be extremely broad, restricted only by the type of memory and processor. For example, any computer with a basic x86 instruction set can run machine or assembly code written for x86 processors, used in the vast majority of personal computers. High-level programming languages can be ported and translated to different operating systems; the effort must be made on the part of hardware and software manufacturers to adopt standards that allow for easy portability.